The Decline of Character Autographs

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

one time buzz didn't sign my book, he stamp it!

Buzz and Woody aren't characters - they're toys and so cannot write which is why they use the stamp

 

[drew81]

why were Piggy and Kermit pulled?

Henson didn't like them anymore. They thought they were too big.

 

[GenieGirl]

Also their car in DSMC is going to be revamped sometime in the near future.

I believe that Abby Mallard and Chix Little both sign, but I have not been around when they are doing autographs.

 

[GenieGirl]

Green Army were out in July. They may not be out because there is a change about to occur. Also, expect the Incredibles in TLand at MK very soon.

Green Army man is still out and about and on patrol in the Studios. Even better, the Incredibles have begun making appearances in Tommorowland at the Timekeeper!!

 

[mayrag]

Too bad

So sad for my 6 year old daughter who this would be her first time for the autograph book. Up until now, she wasn't interested in it. I would recommend Disney that instead of the characters signing, they use the stamp. I know you are gonna kill me for this, but being on a line waiting for a character is somewhat annoying, and if you look closely you can see that the characters takes some time while everyone in the family gets their book signed. If they have a stamp, it would be much faster. Last time, we were in line for Snow White, and at that time she was my daughter's favorite. So when the people in front got with her, we went to our daughter, we're next and you know how excited she was; the CM told us that she was in there for just 5-7 minutes more. SO what happened, that our not so cooperative front line neighbors got their books (and I can assure you there were more than 5 of them) one by one, and poof, the minutes went by, and when my daughter started to walk to Snow White, the CM took her (SW) away. My daughter started crying, crying, crying.........After that I take care on which line to get into to prevent this from happening again....

 

[tinkerbella]

Thank you WDW Kat. It has been a long summer and I spend 6 days out of every week, 12 hrs a day signing books and taking pictures in the Princess Room. Ungrateful parents, crabby kids, TONS and TONS of autograph books and pieces of paper and park maps to write on...it gets very tiresome. But I do it for the one child/person/family out of 50 that is really special. That is what gets me through each day. Other than that we always joke that we are robots. "Hello Princess. How are you? Are you having fun? Can I sign your book? Would you like a picture? Thank you. Have a wonderful day." Over and over and over again. But to those of you on here who really truly care about the characters, thank you and it's you who we are all here for.

 

[DisneySam]

I must be the only one who thinks that slightly different signatures from the characters makes them personal. Just getting back from the world I saw A LOT of what the CM's have mentioned. One in particular, we were going to have our photo taken with Captain Hook and Smee the line was maybe 4 people long, which was not bad and a young (maybe 6 or 7) boy ran right up to them and stuck that autograph book right in their face, while they were interacting with another family. Really was a shame, but the assisting CM took care of it in a nice way, and he went back in line. As for waiting in line being annoying, come on! Waiting in line is usually not horrible, if you plan well. In fact when we were at the AK there were 2 people or no wait for Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald. in the middle of the day. Also that was where we had one of the best Character experiences, that was not even with us.

A four year old (or close to that age, young) little girl went up to Mickey, got her autograph and a hug and as she was walking away she said "I love you Mickey," and he signed back to her "I love you too" it was so cute.

 

[Lee]

I wish Disney would get rid of the autograph crap altoghether. There's nothing more annoying than waiting in line to see a character and have some ignorant 17 y/o ram their way in front of the line waving a book and pen in the characters face.

Yep. Gotta agree with that.
Autograph books were one of the worst ideas WDW has had lately. Forget an adult wanting a quick photo with a character. No way to get close with a mob of little kids waving books and pens. :brick:

 

[GoofyMom2]

My kids just adore getting the autographs...... it's another way Disney has added Magic to their visits. And, when we get home, we can look through their books over and over again, remembering these moments. :sohappy:

They are little, but understand the wait and that sometimes characters may need to take a break, but we will get to see them next time if we miss them. (it took 3 times to see Stitch but was worth it!) But, I know it's hard if you miss a favorite. We were last in line for Jasmine, A, and G, when a little girl tried to get into line, she started crying that she couldn't see Jasmine. I felt so bad! I hope she got to see her another time....

To the Mom of the little girl who didn't get to see SW, I am so sorry you had such an inconsiderate family in front of you......

Anyway, just wanted to give another big "Thank You" to all the great characters, for their patience, friendliness, and hard work. You really make Disney a special place!

 

[MissVickie]

Yeah I dont know where all the characters are going...Guests always ask me where to find Daisy Duck..she's like finding a needle in a haystack at the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Scar]

First, a big BIG thank you to all the characters out there. You really make our daughter's day when we go to the parks. She even loves running to characters she doesn't even know (the Robin Hood characteres were out in full force this summer). We always try to say "please" and "thank you" when dealing with characters. We're not always perfect, but we try our best.

Second, I disagree that autograph books are a bad idea. The whole point is to make the experience magical so that the children love it so much that they want to go back again and again. The autograph is a personal experience for some children that really gets them excited about Disney which, in turn, ensures they become future customers.

Third, we didn't notice any different quality between the autographs we received this year and previous years. Just my two cents, but everything looked fine and even matched the signature on the "Autograph Cards" they sell in the packs of cards.

Thanks again to all the characters.

 

[madge]

My kids just adore getting the autographs...... it's another way Disney has added Magic to their visits. And, when we get home, we can look through their books over and over again, remembering these moments

I just finished up a scrapbook for my youngest--I took all the autographs & pictures from our Spring Break trip and mounted them in an 8x8 book. My daughter looks at that book every day and remembers each and every character she met on that trip. She is usually too awestruck to speak when it's her turn in line...and I hope that doesn't come across as an attitude of not caring. We try to make our turn pretty quick so others behind us don't have to wait.

We've already picked out supplies for our October trip--looking forward to seeing some old friends and meeting new ones

Thanks from our family for all the hard work that the CMs do!

 

[MY_NAME_STITCH]

The differences are noticible. I compared the sigs received during our 2002 trip to those from our February trip this year. Very few were high quality and even sigs from the same character were different. There was little consistency or quality for that matter.

 

[coastermaster83]

I had to laugh last night at my architecture class cus my teacher was talking about this topic and he was like "You know I went to disney a few weeks ago and hes like disney gotten all cheap...I go to magic kingdom and I get into the park and I go I got to go to mickey freaking house to see him. WUT UP WITH DAT man when I was a kid mickey was all over the park for photos and stuff" and he goes on and on about it and I was thinking about it and hes right when I was there last fall I didnt see mickey anywhere in the park but his house and also his autograph then was crapy too. so I think disney needs to know this and that we are not happy guest.

 

[MusicMaker]

Thank you WDW Kat. It has been a long summer and I spend 6 days out of every week, 12 hrs a day signing books and taking pictures in the Princess Room. Ungrateful parents, crabby kids, TONS and TONS of autograph books and pieces of paper and park maps to write on...it gets very tiresome. But I do it for the one child/person/family out of 50 that is really special. That is what gets me through each day. Other than that we always joke that we are robots. "Hello Princess. How are you? Are you having fun? Can I sign your book? Would you like a picture? Thank you. Have a wonderful day." Over and over and over again. But to those of you on here who really truly care about the characters, thank you and it's you who we are all here for.

My 6 y/o daughter can't stop talking about the Princesses YEARS after the first time that she saw them. We went back this year, and each and every one of the Princesses made little Stephanie feel very special. As a parent, you live for moments like that, when you see your child GLOWING with happiness and joy.
Thank you VERY much to you, and all of the characters that make Disney such a magical place for little girls (and parents like us that refuse to grow up!). Who cares if the autographs are slightly off at times? It's the memory of meeting that special Princess or character, that interaction, that's important -- the autograph becomes a catalyst to recall that special moment years later.
I fault the parents for kids that may be out of control, with NO appreciation of the moment, or RESPECT that they should show. It's like some people feel like everything is OWED to them because they paid money to get into the park -- try visitng Tokyo Disney and see how the people there actually respect each other AND the parks, to see how much we've declined as Amercians respecting each other. I was shocked to see many kids and parents not even thanking the characters after a meet and greet and just walking away at WDW.
I personally remember when I first met Mickey at Disneyland over 30 years ago. NO autographs back then, just an old Kodak Instamatic camera.
Thank you to all of the characters like that Mickey who made my first experience with Disney such a magical one that still continues on to this day!
...and please remember, despite the rude families and kids out there, there are some kids like mine who's first Disney experience was made magical due to the characters like you -- hopefully they'll remember that day decades from now like I have!

 

[DisneyFreak529]

I love getting my photo with them more then I do the autographic! Yes the sig is cool but the photo is 10x better! I'm always getting sigs and photos, I think this next trip I might just get photos, they last longer and you love showing them off.

 

[WDWKat26]

I had to laugh last night at my architecture class cus my teacher was talking about this topic and he was like "You know I went to disney a few weeks ago and hes like disney gotten all cheap...I go to magic kingdom and I get into the park and I go I got to go to mickey freaking house to see him. WUT UP WITH DAT man when I was a kid mickey was all over the park for photos and stuff" and he goes on and on about it and I was thinking about it and hes right when I was there last fall I didnt see mickey anywhere in the park but his house and also his autograph then was crapy too. so I think disney needs to know this and that we are not happy guest.

Say what?

Disney won't know you're unhappy after that post, i'm confused reading it.

 

[FSUgly]

Kermit stamped my son's book last year..... Kermit the Frog

 

[hcswingfield]

Yep. Gotta agree with that.
Autograph books were one of the worst ideas WDW has had lately. Forget an adult wanting a quick photo with a character. No way to get close with a mob of little kids waving books and pens. :brick:

Hey, I know what I look like. If I want a photo of a character, I just take it while they are posing with someone else's kids. The kids are a lot cuter than I am anyway.:lol:

 

[drew81]

Kermit stamped my son's book last year..... Kermit the Frog

Kermit and Piggy always used stamps. They are no longer out at the Studios.